Oh How Things Change
by Xire
Summary: One day the ground shook and when Lass and Arme awoke from their hiding place the world was changed. The castle now decrepit and decaying, with none of the other members able to be found.
1. Chapter 1

Okay and he is my next attempt at a multi chapter story! I'm not really sure how I got this idea but I did...so please bear with me on this one. Hope you enjoy and don't find it too bad :)

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**Ch 1 **

"Ugh, what was that?" I muttered after the ground shaking had stopped. "You alright Arme?" I asked, looking at said mage that I had been holding in my arms in an attempt to protect her from the onslaught of books that had been falling from their shelves.

"I think so..." There came a sharp gasp from the mage. "What happened here?!"

It was then that I finally took note of the state of the Castle Library. It was a surprising sight indeed; everything in the room seemed to have been thrown into a state of decay, the once upright and proud standing bookshelves now seeming as if a single touch would turn them to dust. The books themselves were nowhere to be seen, not a single trace left of their existence. There were large cracks in the walls, some wide enough that sunlight could be seen shining through them. I stood up, helping Arme up as well.

"I would like to know what happened myself." I said in response to Arme's question. How could a ground shake like that have caused the library to look like it had aged several hundred years? It didn't make much sense. I shook my head. "C'mon, let's go and see if the others know what's happened."

Arme nodded and I took her hand, leading her through the rubble that was once the library towards the exit, every step sending fresh clouds of dust into the air. The doors were just like the bookshelves; decayed and barely hanging onto the hinges, looking as if at any moment they would crash to the ground. And fall they did, as soon as I tried to open one of them. At least we could exit now, anyways.

The hallway out from the library wasn't in much better shape then where we had last been, except here there were a few unfamiliar additions. There were several white, circular shaped objects lining both sides of the wall, all connected by some sort of strange black rope type thing.

"Why don't we split up and see if we can find the others." I suggested. If we could find them, then perhaps we could get some answers.

"Right. I'll check the lower levels, you want to check the above ones?" Arme asked.

"Let's met back here then once we're done then, alright?"

"Got it!"

And with that the both of us parted ways to search the castle. As I traveled through the upper levels, nothing much seemed to be different then how it was downstairs, everything in that same state of constant ruin. Through a window I saw the village not too far off, looking like it always had, large and bustling with plenty of people, business seemingly doing well. I nodded to myself as I passed. Well, at least something was still norma-wait...

I backed back up to the window, to take a second look at the village. It wasn't normal at all-the buildings were all taller, and built of strange material. The roads were no longer that of dirt, but instead made of a strange, smooth black something or other. I shook my head. That could be worried about later. For now, I just had to find one of the other members of the chase and see if they knew what was going on.

But the castle was strangely empty; not a single trace that anyone had lived here for years could be found. All the rooms were barren, except for the bed that was in the same shape as the bookshelves had been, the blankets now almost non-existent, and the mattress seeming like it wasn't too far behind. Had everyone just up and desert the castle, neglecting to tell Arme and myself about it? I sighed, leaving what used to be Jin's room, and continuing down the hallway, the entrance to my own room approaching.

Stepping into my room, it was just like everywhere else, despite the fact that I had been here earlier this morning. Seeing my other weapons no where in sight, I because a bit curious. I kneeled down and pulled up the floorboard near the bed to get to the place I usually hid some spare daggers. I frowned when I didn't see them there, so I shifted through the cob webs half-hoping they were hidden but also half suspecting that they just plain weren't there. My suspicion turned out to be correct, and I placed the floorboard back in it's place, annoyed. No one but myself knew of that hiding place; and least so I thought. Someone, or something must've found out about it somehow. I sighed again, laying on the floor and closing my eyes. What could have happened to this place? It just didn't make sense the state it was in now. No simple ground quake could've caused something to have aged so rapidly; get a bit beat up sure, but not certainty not age. Nor could it've caused the village to have changed so much, almost seeming like an entirely new place.

"Lass! Help me!" It wasn't until I heard Arme's panicked shout did I realize that I had actually been dozing off. "LASS!" Wasting no more time, I bolted up right and back downstairs towards the sounds of the mage's cries, which seemed to be getting more despite with each call.

At the top of the stairs I could see a rather burly man with extremely short dark hair, a deep tan and wearing strange clothes rather roughly trying to drag Arme off. He was holding both her writs in her hands seemingly rather tightly despite the mage's protest. At this, I narrowed my eyes, the grip on my Nodachi growing tighter. I backed up a bit, then took a running start before jumping down the the stairs, clearing them in one leap and landing not too far from the man. Before the man was able to realized what was going on, I was behind him, the blade of my weapon pressed against the front of the man's neck.

"You'll let her go if you value your life." I said in low, menacing tone.

"And why should I, punk? You two aren't even supposed to be here in the first place. I'll take this girl and you with me to the police where you will be properly dealt with." The man said in a gruff voice. He didn't even seem remotely scared. "And you don't scare me with that fake toy sword or yours."

"I don't think you're in a place to be making demands here." I said, pushing my blade into the man's neck just enough to draw a little blood. "As you can see, this is not just some 'toy sword'." I pressed a little harder. "And I am not afraid to use it if I have to."

Now that there was actual blood drawn, and easily, the man seemed to be getting a little nervous now. "Why would you kill an innocent person? I'm just doing my job keeping trespassers away."

"We are _not_ trespassers. This is our home, after all. It is _you_ who is the trespasser here." I corrected him. Really, what could he be thinking, accusing us of trespass? Really, the nerve of some people... "Now I'm not in the mood to argue, so you will let her go before you find yourself minus one head. And I assure you, this is no empty threat; I've done it to other and will not hesitate to do it again if the need arises." At that, Arme was finally released. "Now, you will be on your way and you better hope to never cross my path again. Because if you do you better run the opposite way as fast as you possibly can." With that said, I finally removed my blade from the man's neck, but kept it out of it's sheath just in case he tried to do anything funny. But it turned out to be unnecessary as the man bolted away from us. As soon as the man was out of eyesight, I turned to Arme, finally sheathing my Nodachi. "Are you alright, Arme?" I asked.

"I think so, just a bit spooked is all. I mean, that man came out of practically no where! One second I was checking the kitchen for anyone, the next he had grabbed a hold of me and was dragging me towards the front doors." She explained.

"Well, it's good that you called for me when you did, or I might not have gotten here in time." I said. It really wasn't a pleasant thought; if that had happened, then I would've had to try and figure out this crazy, mixed up world by myself, and try and figure out where she had disappeared to. I decided to change the topic rather then dwell on those unpleasant thoughts. "So, did you find anyone?"

Arme shook her head. "I didn't see anyone, not even a trace. Everything is in ruins. It's like no one has lived here for who knows how long." She pouted a bit. "And I don't like it."

I put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright, I'm sure we'll figure this out soon enough."

But soon didn't seem to be happening as time went by. The castle was completely deserted, and some odd modifications to certain places seemed to have been made. Like the front doors and main gate; the doors were still there looking in a slightly better condition then the library's had been, but perhaps that was because the front doors were being supported by a strange type of metal that was also holding the doors open. The gates were different entirely; now they were seemingly made of another strange metal. There was also a strange building made of the same type of material the village's buildings had been, only this building wasn't very big, and resting to the side of the front of the castle, just a little bit in front of it. There was something written on the front of the building in big bold letters, but neither Arme or I were able to read it. But that was the least of our worries; night was approaching fast, along with a chill in the air. The day may have been warm, but the night sure wasn't going to be. It never had, and probably never will.

"Tomorrow we should go explore the village." I suggested as Arme and I were sitting on the floor, in the library as it was seemingly the warmest part of the castle. We were huddled into a corer, that we had cleared of debris, leaning against the wall. "Perhaps there we can can find some answers."

"Mmm." Was the only answer I received. Looking down, I found that Arme already had her eyes closed, seeming ready for sleep. She was curled up into me, her head resting on my chest. I smiled slightly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer trying to give her as much warmth as possible. Neither of us were dressed very warmly, as my Striker outfit and her Battle Mage's were for anything but cold weather.

Loud voices and footsteps turned out to the alarm clock for the following morning. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking to get used to the bright light. I raised my head slowly from where it had been resting on Arme's (and yes, my neck was incredibly stiff by the way) trying to decern who the voices belonged to. But it wasn't anyone I knew, and they were all of varying ages and genders. Male, female, old, young, crying...none of this seemed like it would bode well for myself and Arme. I turned to the mage, shaking her lightly to try and wake her up. "C'mon Arme, it's time to get up, we have to get moving." The voices were getting closer, and I didn't quite feel like dealing with them should they find us. It took a few tries, but I finally get the sleepy mage awake enough to comply to moving into a better hiding spot behind one of the taller of the fallen bookshelves. A few minutes later a group of at least ten people arrived, all wearing strange clothes like the man from yesterday had.

"Wow, folks it looks like you get a treat today; this room's door seems to have fallen, allowing better access into the room, which appears to have once been a sort of library." An older women said, wearing the strangest outfit of the lot. She also seemed to be the one leading the group. "Please be careful as we want to preserve this place as best we can for others to come and enjoy." She didn't say anything for a few minutes as the ones of the group began milling around. "In it's time, this could've been quite the grand library from it's size." She finally said. "One would almost dare to say it could've been the greatest in it's prime days."

After awhile, the group left and once their voices were out of earshot, the castle was silent once again. I looked down at Arme, who had been leaning against me, to find her asleep once more. I sighed and shook her. After a few attempts she finally stirred, looking up at me. "What is it?" She asked, a sleepy/confused look on her face.

I looked away, trying to keep the blush from staining my cheeks. Man, she looked too cute like that..."Er...we should get going to the village. To see if we can find some answers about what going on."

"Mmm...how early is it?" She asked, yawning.

"Well judging from where the sun is, I'd say it's at least some where around noon." I responded.

Arme yawned and stood up, stretching. "Alright, alright I'm up." She said. "Ohhh I'm so stiff! Tonight we have to find some place better then a corner to sleep!"

I laughed a bit, standing up myself. "Agreed." I was a stiff myself, and although I had enjoyed Arme's touch a proper bed would be nice.

"Alright then let's-"

"Wait," I said cutting the mage off, "do you hear that?" I asked, hearing loud voices approaching once again, even though they sounded different then last time.

Arme listened for a moment before nodding. "Who are they?"

I shook my head. "I dunno." But further conversation was interrupted as another group came through the door, this time the leader seeming to a man although the patterns of his clothes we like the woman's, the only difference being his were made for a male. He did the same basic speech as the woman had, and letting the people wander a bit. I was starting to think this would be a regular occurrence during the day, and thus sneaking out won't be the easiest. So I formed a plan. "Hey, Arme. Why don't we join that group so there won't be any problems leaving the castle?" I suggested.

"Alright." She agreed. So with that we eased ourselves into looking like we were part of the group. After a few minutes the man called that it was time to leave, and leave we did, following right behind at the back of group. Once outside the castle, more people could be seen milling about.

"Lass, look." Arme said, pointing to the building that was near the castle. "People keep coming out of it carrying bags." And so they were. Every so often varying amounts of people would walk out through the doors, with bags in their hands. A few even came out with their noses buried in some type of book. "C'mon, let's go check it out!" Arme said, taking my hand and dragging me towards the doors of the building.

Inside, multiple shelves, tables and displays were set up. There was a counter in the shape of a circle with someone standing behind it in the middle of the room, dressed similar to the woman and the man from the groups earlier. Every so often someone would go up to the counter with some sort of item in their hand, and either exchange strange coins, paper, or even an odd looking flat plastic looking thing. After the exchange would take place, the item would be place in a bag and then handed back to the person who had brought it to the counter. Perhaps they were buying the item? Well that seemed logical enough.

"Hey Lass come look at this!" At Arme's call, I looked away from the counter to where the mage's voice was coming from. She was off to the right a bit, standing in front of one of the tables and holding up what looked to be a small model of how the castle should look, standing tall and proud, not forlorn and decayed. I went over to the mage and stood next to her, taking the offered model from her and examining it closer and noting that there were a handful more copies of the model on the table. The model was rather detailed, and was almost exactly the way the castle looked yesterday before the quake hit, except for a few minor things like the color being slightly off in some places. "So what do you make of it?" She asked.

"I'm not really sure, to tell the truth. After all, why would this place have such a model for the castle?" I asked, turning said model over in my hands. The bottom of it was completely flat, with a small rectangular paper stuck to it that had a strange symbol placed in front of numbers on it. "Twenty-nine dot ninety-nine?" I muttered, confused.

"Ahhh you have good taste young man! That there is a genuine replica of the castle here in it's prime days!" A man said from behind us and clapping a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind to see that he was rather tall, and wearing the same clothes that the other three had. He looked between the two of us. "So, young man, taking your little sister out on a trip then? How nice of you."

"She's not my sister." I corrected him. That was certainty a first...no one before had ever assumed Arme my sister just by looking at us.

The man looked rather surprised. "Oh really? I could've sworn she was with how short she is."

"I'm not that young! I'm fifteen! And the name it Arme not 'she'!" Arme protested.

"Ahh sorry then, miss." The man turned to looked back at me. "So if she's not your sister, is she your girlfriend then?" He shook his head before speaking again, not allowing me to answer. "No matter, a pretty girl always deserves gifts and you should observe that!" He turned to another table. "Now look at this!" He picked up one of the objects, a small, clear round glass type orb looking thing. It in could be seen a smaller version of the castle model surrounded by white. He shook it and white small white things flew around the inside. "You can make it snow at the castle!" Ugh, snow. I hated the stuff, especially after our venture to that frozen heck hole the Alter of Judgment or whatever the others had called it. If it hadn't been for Arme and her fire magic, I'm sure I would've become a Popsicle for those snow tigers to gnaw on.

But said mage certainly seemed to be interested in the item. She took the orb from the man's hands and shook it a few times herself. "Hey Lass isn't this so amazing, you can actually make it snow at the castle!" She said enthusiastically.

I sighed. "Yes, very impressive, especially since it brings back certain frost bitten memories." I muttered darkly.

Arme laughed. "Oh shush you. You just don't have any appreciation for snow."

"Well maybe I would if it didn't seem like I've just barely thawed from that miserable place."

Arme shook her head. "Well you might not like it, but I do." She said, shaking the orb again.

"And it's only fifteen ninety nine." The man said, making his presence know once again. Not like the information he gave made much sense. Fifteen ninety nine what?

"I would like to get it..." Arme said, looking at me.

"Great! Then will it be the snow globe or would you like to browse some more?" The man asked, but I ignored him for the moment.

"Arme, what did you do with your own money?" I asked the mage.

"I spent it all on books and some other supplies!"

I sighed. I really should've known that would be that answer. After all, it would be just like her to do that sort of thing. I looked at the man. "Just that, we really should be heading off."

"Perfect!" The man said cheerfully, taking the so called 'snow globe' from Arme's hands. "Just follow me to counter and well get this paid for!" He led us over to the counter, where he typed something into a strange shaped machine made of metal. "That'll be sixteen forty five." He said. Wait...hadn't he just said it was fifteen...? I shook my head and reached into a pocket, pulling out a single gold piece.

"Will this do?" I asked, holding it up for the man to see.

The man's eyes lit up strangely. "Yes, yes, of course that will suffice!" He said a little too enthusiastically, reaching out and taking the gold piece from me. Placed the bag with the globe on the counter without taking his eyes from the gold. He was starting to act a bit creepy...hadn't he ever seen a gold piece before?

"C'mon Arme, let's get out of here." I muttered to the mage, handing her the bag. She nodded and we left. "What was up with that guy anyways? He acted like he had never seen a gold piece before." I said once we were out.

"Ya, he was starting to give me the creeps. Although before he did seem nice enough, besides the part where he implied I was little."

"I guess...he was actually starting to get on my nerves a little what with that fake seeming happy attitude of his."

"What makes you think it was fake?" Arme asked as we approached the village, which wasn't too far off.

I shook my head. "I dunno, there was just something about him that just seemed rather fake."

"Well...whoa what happened here?!" Arme exclaimed as we entered the village.

It seemed a lot bigger then it had when I had been looking through the window of the castle, the buildings seeming taller and wider. Not to mention there were more metal contraptions going up and down the road with people inside them.

"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to." I replied to her question. I think Arme said something more, but I was distracted from it as my sixth sense was telling me that something dangerous was approaching, and approaching fast. More in particular, approaching Arme. "Move!" I yelled, roughly pushing her aside, causing both of us to fall to the ground. It was as we were falling I felt a terrible pain in my side, and breathing was becoming a steadily harder task to perform. I put a hand to my side, only to find that blood was flowing freely from the small circular wound I know had.

"Lass!" Arme cried next to me, moving over so she could help sit up. I grit my teeth as the pain spiked with the movement. "What happened? Where did that wound come from?"

"I...I don't know." I managed out, a hand clasped to my side though it did little to stop the bleeding, the red fluid seeping through my fingers.

"This should help." Arme said, holding her staff to prepare a spell. "Cure!" But nothing happened, the blood kept flowing. The mage frowned. "CURE!" Still nothing. "I don't understand, why isn't my magic working?" She asked frantically.

"Arme..." I muttered, trying to keep my eyes from closing. I was suddenly so tired...it didn't help that black was beginning to cloud my vision.

"Don't fall asleep Lass!" Arme rummaged in her pockets, pulling out a medium sized potion. "Here, drink this. If I can't get my magic to work we'll have to use something else." She uncorked the bottle then placed the opening of the bottle to my lips, and helping me to drink it. The potion went down my throat easily, leaving behind a warm feeling like it always did. But it didn't entirely stop the bleeding, only serving to slow the flow a bit.

"What happened here?" A familiar voice said from somewhere to my left. Managing to look over I spotted what seemed to be Ronan, wearing strange clothes like the rest of the people here, looking worried. I think Arme said something, but I couldn't be sure as it was then that darkness decided to completely take over the world.

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And there we have it, chapter one. Any guesses as to what's happened yet? ;P

-Xire


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

The next thing I was conscious of was of the most annoying beeping sound you will ever hear in your life. But the question remained as to where it was coming from. I opened my eyes to be greeted by that of a pure white ceiling with a strange sort of fixture in the middle of it. Looking around the room, it wasn't familiar at all. The walls were a very sterile white, and there was a window placed in the middle of one of the walls off to my left, curtains open letting sunlight stream through. The incessant beeping itself was coming from a strange device standing near the bed I was on, numbers that would occasionally go up and down slightly, along with a red line that would spike up, go back down, go straight for a moment, then spike back up again displayed on the surface. Now, if I could get up possibly I could get the blasted beeping to stop...I began to push myself up from the bed, only to be stopped by a racking pain in my side, causing me to fall back down on the bed. Fine, if I couldn't get up and stop it that way, perhaps one good kunai throw would shut it up.

I reached to take said weapon from where it was strapped to my wrist, only to find that it wasn't there. I had none of my hidden weapons or my Nodachi. Great, just great. Now there really was no way to get rid of the annoyance. I groaned, placing an arm over my eyes. It was then that I noticed that what I was wearing had changed, and not for the better, if you ask me. My normal clothes had been replaced by a simple white gown, and that was all.

"Lass? Are you awake?" I looked over towards the door, where the familiar voice had come from. Arme was poking her head through where the door was slightly cracked open. She had a worried look on her face, and it seemed as if she hadn't slept very well recently.

"Hey Arme." I answered her.

"Lass!" The mage exclaimed, and the next thing I knew was that her arms were tightly around my neck. "You had me so worried!"

"Sorry about that...although I'm not exactly sure what even happened to tell the truth."

Arme sat down in the chair next to the bed after letting me go. "You got shot by a...bullet, I think Ronan called it."

"Ronan?"

"Er I mean Rowen. He's Ronan, but then again he's not. I mean, he looks plenty like Ronan, and he sounds like Ronan, but he says he's Rowen." Arme frowned.

"Would you care to make some sense, Arme? How can he be Ronan and yet not?"

"It's just like I said, he looks like Ronan, well, except for the clothes, but the hair and the voice are exactly the same!" Her frown deepened as she explained. "He doesn't know me, and he says his name is Rowen. Apparently he lives with a bunch of others at this house that belongs to a man named Siegfried. We got to the house pretty late and the others were already asleep so I didn't get to met them. I got to sleep in a guest bedroom for the night and then I came straight back here as soon as I could."

I sighed and closed my eyes. So, not just the place was different, but those that we knew as well. "This just does not make sense." I muttered. "How can one quake change so much?"

"I don't know, but I really hope we get some answers soon." Arme replied.

I looked over at Arme. "Enough of the confusing bit for now. Why don't you tell me where exactly I am?" It was something that had been nagging at me for some time now.

"Well," Arme began, "after you passed out, Ronan-I mean Rowen- helped take you here. He called it a hospital. It seems to have the the same function as healer's wards. Anyway, after you were given to the 'doctors', which I think are like male healers, Rowen said he was gonna call Siegfried. He used this weird contraption to do it too. He talked about what happened, and I think some sort of agreement was made, but I'm not sure of the whole thing." Arme explained. "Oh, and before I forget, I would've brought you your Nodachi, but they have this weird rule about no weapons here. You even need some sort of special permission called a 'permit' just to have a concealed weapon. Isn't that just crazy?"

I nodded. Arme probably had my daggers as well. It was good to know that my weapons weren't lost somewhere. "Indeed. Perhaps it's because they are actually somehow not bothered by any type of monsters for some reason."

Arme was about to say something more, but two people came through the open door. "Rona-I mean, Rowen, is this...Siegfried?" The mage asked.

So that was Rowen? I had thought he was Ronan. His hair was blue and long, keep back in a ponytail, and the face was exactly the same. The man standing next to him with short black hair looked quite a bit light Sieghart, except for the addition of a few scars about his face and arms.

"Yes." The Ronan look a like answered. Just as Arme had mentioned, his voice was Ronan's voice. He turned to Sieghart. "Sieg, this is Arme and Lass, the one's I told you about." So it was another case of exactly the same and not yet with this Siegfried then.

"Well it is certainly nice to meet the both of you." Siegfried said. "Although when Rowen here told me about you two I was expecting to girls, not have one of them be a boy."

I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's because a lass isn't generally taken to be a boy's name." Sieghart-Sieg_fried_ explained. What did he mean 'a lass' I was the only Lass as far as I knew. Siegfried laughed a bit before continuing. "Parents these days right? Anyways, about where the two of you will be staying, as Rowen tells me that you two don't have any real place to stay according to Arme. You are welcome to stay at my place for long as need be, there is certainly plenty of room." He gave a light smile. "That is, as soon as you are released from here, Lassy."

I glared a bit at Siegfried at the 'Lassy' comment. I started to try and sit up "I'm fine to leave here whenever I-"

"You are not leaving just yet!" Arme exclaimed, pushing me back down on the bed with surprising strength. "You are not leaving until I or one of the other healer's around deem it so!"

"Oh c'mon Arme I'm not that bad off..." I protested.

"Fine you can leave on one condition; if you can get up out of bed just fine then I won't give any more protests." She said. Sounds easy enough.

"No problem. We'll be out of here in no ti-ahhhh..." I was forced to lay back down with a groan as the motion caused what felt like millions of tiny knives to shot themselves into my side.

Arme nodded, like she had expected this to happen. "Well, it looks like you won't be leaving today then." Great just great. It's time for another round of the 'Bored out my skull' game.

Just then an unfamiliar woman came into the room, wearing strange cloths like everyone else around this place seemed to. She was carrying in one had what looked to be bandages. "Well, it certainly is good to see that you are awake, young man." She said. "And it's time to change your bandages."

Siegfried then chose to speak up once more, speaking to Arme and Rowen. "C'mon you two, why don't we leave the nurse to her work and get a few things settled?"

"Why can't I stay with Lass?" Arme asked, pouting slightly. "It's not like I haven't seen wounds before. I've bandaged him plenty of times!"

"You look like you are about to fall asleep sitting up, that's why." Siegfried answered.

"Getting her away from here will be easier said then done, though." Rowen commented.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, it took at least a half an hour to convince her to go and even then I had to half-drag her."

I laughed a bit. That certainly did sound like Arme. I had heard many tales from Ronan about how it seemed almost neigh impossible to drag the mage away from the bed I'd be unconscious in at the healer's ward and get her to go to bed. I reached out and took Arme's hand.

"I'll be fine, really. And you do look pretty tired. You should go and get some sleep and before you know you can come back here."

Arme gave me a very cute looking pout. "But Lass-!"

"No buts Arme. I don't want you losing sleep over me, ok?"

The mage sighed but relented. "Alright fine but I'll be back!"

"And I'll be waiting."

/

It was at least a week later, and I was finally released from boredom vile that was called a hospital, with instructions to take it easy least I pull out my 'stitches'. Stitches, what the sow job they had done on my wound was called. Apparently it was to help my skin heal more effectively or something. It was an odd concept, sowing the skin, anything more then a scratch was either healed by magic, potions, or if you didn't have either, a tight, think bandage to keep it from bleeding and dealing with the scar that came after it healed. When I was released, Arme and Rowen had come to pick me up, along with a red headed girl that looked like Elesis. We left after I had changed back into my normal clothes instead of the ridiculous gown.

We were taken to some sort of strange building that according to Rowen was where we were going to go get some new clothes. Not that I really thought that we needed any. After all, what was wrong with our other clothes? Apparently, something to do with 'not fitting in'. Once inside the building, Arme was led off by the Elesis look a like to the girl's section while Rowen led me to the boys.

The clothes there were nothing like I was used to. No armor, no weapons, no nothing. The pants were all made of a weird material, along with the shirts, and strange patterns and sayings were on the majority of the clothes. I sighed, and began to look through what was being offered.

Time travel. Perhaps in that explosion there had been something magical, which propelled Arme and I forward into the who knows where future. That would mean that of course the rest of the chase would be long dead, none of them able to live nearly this long. Wait, there was one that should still be alive...Sieghart. He was an immortal, he _should_ still be around somewhere. Hey wait a minute...Siegfried...it was no wonder he looked like Sieghart because he _is_ Sieghart! I shook my head. Honestly, I must be getting a bit slow. I can't believe it took me this long to figure that out. Perhaps we can finally get some answers out of the old man, at least. Well, that solved one mystery, but why was there look a like for both Ronan and Elesis? They certainly hadn't been immortal. I sighed. I really hope this all gets figured out soon...

"Hey Lass are you ok? You look like something's bothering you." Rowen asked from next to me out of no where.

"Eh, I'll be fine, don't worry about it." I answered.

"Are you sure? You know, it's not good to keep things all bottled up. One day you'll just explode." There he went, acting like Ronan. He even said something that was extremely close to what the knight had told me back when I had first met him. I certainly can't give the same response as I had to that statement before; it didn't have much relevance here. Besides, that pain had dulled so that it was at least bearable now.

"Really, I'll be fine. It's nothing I can't handle." I paused, a curious idea forming in my head. Maybe... "Hey Rowen, what's your full name?" If he had more then one name, anyway. I'm not sure if it was still true in this time, but back home only those of high social standing had more then just one name. The royals always had at least three, while someone from the royal guard or other high standing had two.

"It's Rowen Erudon, why do you ask?"

/

About an hour or so later, we finally arrived at the place where Rowen and the Ele, the name of which the Elesis look a like seemed to be going by. From the outside it looked more like a mansion, and only seemed to get bigger once inside. The main floor had the kitchen (which was pretty large just like every other room), a room with couches and chairs along with some sort of strange large box with some sort of glass in it. A swimming pool, and other rooms that seemed to be devoted to various forms of entertainment were also littered about the floor.

It was Rowen that led Arme and I up to the second floor, which turned out to be just as large as the first one. The difference was that this floor seemed to be entirely devoted to bedrooms along with a room to clean clothes. The bedrooms themselves were quite a bit larger then any I had seen, including a walk in closet, a bed that looked big enough for two, and it's own attached bathroom complete with a bathtub that looked more like a swimming pool. Not to mention the room had it's own balcony.

After the 'grand tour' as Rowen had called it, he left Arme and I to our own devices, saying something about having to do 'homework' or whatever. Once out on the balcony of the room that I had been given with Arme, I proceeded to tell her about some of the things that I had found out during the little shopping trip.

"Are you serious?" The mage asked once I had told her about Rowen's last name. I nodded, and she frowned. "Well, he does look a lot like Ronan, and kinda acts like him too..." She trailed off.

"That's not all," I began, "you know that Siegfried guy? I'm pretty sure that he's actually Sieghart. After all, the guy was immortal, wasn't he? So no matter how far in the future or whatever that we've managed to come, he out of all of the chase should still be running around."

"Hey ya, that does make sense!" Arme exclaimed. She then pouted. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"You were probably to preoccupied being your overly worrying self." I said, trying to keep from rolling my eyes.

The mage punched me in the shoulder. "I am not!" She exclaimed.

A light smirk came onto my face. "Ya sure, you just keep telling yourself that."

Arme just glared at me. "I bet it was because I was trying to get my magic to work."

I frowned, beginning to worry now. "What?" I asked, hopping that I had misheard somehow.

"It's like I said! I can't even perform the simplest of spells!"

That...that wasn't good. "How could that even be possible?"

"I don't know!" Arme near yelled, and she was looking like she was near tears. I never did like it when the mage was unhappy. It always fit her so much better to be happy. Not sure what else to really do, I pulled her close to me in a light hug.

"It'll be okay, I'm sure of it. We'll just have to track down Sieghart and make him tell us what's happened." I said, trying to at the very least to make Arme feel a least a little better. "Maybe he can help you get back into using the magic arts." I got no reply except for a small nod as the mage had her head buried into my chest.

* * *

I'll say this now before we get an further in this; everything happens for a reason ;)

Anywho, a bit of random tid bits that I found on this one name site;

Ronan means Little seal

Mari- Uncertain, maybe bitter

Jin- Gold

Amy- Loved

Well, see you people next time!

-Xire


	3. Chapter 3

Ok so this is actually up a day later then I had intended. Stupid leaves why must you keep falling! I swear, as soon as you think you have them all raked up more fall just to spite you! Grr. I love trees in the summer for all the shade they provide but I hate them when they drop their leaves on the ground for you to rake :/ I'll get really rich one day and then just hire someone to do it. Yes, that's exactly what I'll do...

* * *

**Ch3**

That night when I fell asleep, I had a rather strange dream.

I could see myself lying on my back in a bed in the castle's infirmary, back when the castle was still in its glory days. My eyes were clamped shut, my face flushed and red, I was covered in sweat and I seemed to be having some sort of trouble breathing. A wet cloth was placed on my forehead, and I noticed that it was Arme, sitting in a chair next to the bed.

"How's he doing?" A voice came from behind Arme, and Ronan walked up to stand beside her. "Any better?" He asked.

Arme just shook her head, in a solemn sort of way. "He's still the same." She was frowning heavily, and it seemed as if she was trying to hold back tears. "Oh, I wish he had never gone to that village! Then he wouldn't have gotten so sick!" She yelled in a frustrated manner, a single tear escaping to run down her cheek.

Ronan put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he'll pull through, Arme. Lass has survived tougher things than this." He said encouragingly.

The mage sniffed a bit. "I hope you're right..." She said softly, wiping my face and neck with the cloth. "I just don't want to lose him."

After the dream ended I woke up, only to find myself face to face with Arme. "Well it's about time you woke up! I've been trying to get you up for ages!" She said, frowning and pulling away slightly. She was already dressed, wearing a simple short sleeved shirt that was the same color as her hair, with a plaid skirt that was just a touch darker. It looked rather nice on her, and I couldn't help but smile a little. "And what are you smiling at buster?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"I like what you're wearing, that's what." I answered, reaching up a hand to run through Arme's hair. "It's fits." She blushed.

"L-Lass!" She exclaimed, standing up straight. I couldn't help but laugh a little, and finally sitting up. She was cute when she blushed. "Don't-don't do that!" She punched my shoulder.

"That's what you get for being so close." I said, grinning.

"Oh you! Why don't you just go get dressed!" And with that, she promptly marched out of the room, face still red.

I laughed a bit to myself as I stood up and went over to the closet to retrieve the clothes I would wear for the day. The clothes and armor, along with our weapons, that Arme and I had arrived at this time with were also stored in our respective closets. You know I swear I had heard Sieghart mutter something about being able to wear them on Halloween and still fit in. I shook my head reached into the closet, taking out a pair of jeans, a black sleeveless shirt, a blue short sleeved jacket with a collar, and of course my striker headband. The long sleeves of the shirt were nice, as they allowed me to hide a few of my daggers up them. I would've hide some in my shoes as well, but these 'tennis shoes' as Rowen had called them weren't tall enough for the task, unlike the more boot like shoes that went with my striker clothes.

Once changed out of my sleep wear which consisted of a white short sleeved shirt and light blue shorts, I grabbed the bag that had been sitting near the door and headed downstairs to hopefully find Sieghart and get some questions answered.

"Lass what took you so long! If we don't hurry we're gonna be late!" Arme exclaimed, grabbing my arm once I had entered the downstairs area and dragging me off to the front door where Ele and Rowen were waiting. Rowen wasn't going to the same school that the rest of us were, and as far as I understand, it was because him being almost twenty, he was old enough to go to some other type of school, one that was more advanced or something like that. Instead, he was just waiting at the door to send us off before he went to his classes that were apparently much later in the day.

One of the things that was added to my list of strange/annoying things about this time: school. On our way back from our little shopping trip, Rowen had inquired about what Arme and I were doing about school. Unfortunately as it turned out that here everyone below a certain age was supposed to be in school. And when you reached the age of eighteen, going to school became much more optional. Arme being only fifteen had to go apparently because of some law or other and said mage had somehow managed to talk me into going.

As for our explanation as to why we didn't know about school, I just said that where Arme and I came from had a very different policy when it came schooling. Very different. In cases like this being a thief had its perks as I had long learned to lie in a very convincing manner. So Rowen after we had arrived back at the house had gone about doing whatever it was that would enroll us in school.

I sighed and shook my head as Arme dragged me out the door. It was rather annoying how we were forced to go to this school, as it was time that could be better spent tracking down where Sieghart had wandered off to. Six hours we would be stuck there, doing nothing productive to our situation.

The way we got to the school was via walking, as the building was apparently not too far away. Once we arrived, it looked to be a decent sized building, with some people that were still rushing in, seeming as to be wary of being late. As we entered the building and came into what seemed to be like the main area (or as Ele called it the common room), several of the people that had been milling about stopped and stared at us. Or more in particular, Arme and myself. What did they think they were staring at? It's not like we looked that odd.

"Alright you two I guess since it's your first day I'll show you where your classes are." Ele said. "But you better get lost and make me late to my own classes!"

I just rolled my eyes at her last statement. As if I would get lost, I had a better sense of direction then that. Arme giggled slightly from where she was standing next to me. "Don't worry Ele," She reassured, "I'm sure Lass and I will be fine."

Ele nodded. "Alright then, so where is that I'm taking you to?"

"I've got English and I think Lass has history." Arme supplied. She looked at me. "Am I right?" I just nodded. Perhaps this history class might prove useful. With any luck it would tell what at least had happened to the castle and its inhabitants.

It was at that moment that some sort of loud, ridiculously loud bell sounded from somewhere, and I was put instantly on alert, although I had to keep myself from going into a battle stance, so I guess it probably looked like the sound had caused me to jerk a little.

Ele laughed. "Calm down Lass, that's just the bell telling us to get to class. C'mon we only have five minutes before we're marked tardy." With that she walked off, obviously expecting us to follow. And follow we did, although I was scowling a bit. Honestly, it wasn't that funny. If she knew half of what I've lived through, she'd know why I reacted the way I did. I've learned to be cautious of unfamiliar sounds, and several times that instinct has saved my life.

It didn't take long before we reached what was supposed to be the first class I was to be in. "Alright Lass I guess I see you later. Be good, okay?" Arme said smiling at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, Arme."

"Meet me at lunch okay?" I nodded and she hugged me before running off with Ele.

I sighed and shook my head before entering the classroom and as what seemed like what would be happening a lot today, garnering stares from everyone that was in the room. So I went for a seat in the far back corner, dropping my bag roughly to the floor by the chair before sitting down. It didn't take long for me to hear the whispered conversations of those in the class, most if not all of it coming from the females.

"He must be one of two new students, isn't he? Where do you think he comes from?"

"I'll bet you it's from somewhere exotic. I mean just look at that hair!"

"How do you know he didn't just bleach it? It's not possible for someone that young to have white hair naturally!"

"Oh who cares about his hair color, just look at his face! Oh he's just so cute!"

"Cute, are you crazy? He's not cute he's gorgeous!"

"Haven't you seen his eyes? They're positively breath taking!"

"What do you think his name is? I bet it's something so manly!"

"Are you kidding me? Someone like that deserves an elegant name!"

I rolled my eyes. Girls.

"Alright class settle down, it's time to start class." An elderly, speckled woman said from the front of the room. She had gray hair that was pulled into a tight bun in the back, eyes that were sharp and narrow, seeming as if they would miss nothing. She had half-moon glasses that were perched low on her nose, and was obviously the teacher of this class. At the woman's command, the hushed conversations ended and attention was diverted to the front of the room. This was obviously someone who commanded respect.

"Alright when I call out your name simply raise your hand and say here." The woman said, turning her attention to a sheet of paper that was lying on the long desk she was standing behind.

After a few minutes, she reached my name. "Here." I stated, raising my hand briefly. At that, a strange sort of silence came over the room as everyone, including the teacher, looked at me with varying degrees of surprise on their faces. "What?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

The teacher looked at the sheet again, adjusting her glasses as she did so. "Lass, that is your name, correct?" She asked slowly.

"Yes, what of it?" Seriously, what was so strange about my name?

"Hmm, I see. It is nothing." She stated, and continued calling names, although the quiet whispers had begun once again, this time by both the males and the females.

"Poor guy."

"I know I'd hate to be stuck with that name."

"Can you imagine having that name? It's gotta be harsh."

"That's his name?"

"How does someone so cute get stuck with such a terrible name?"

"That name doesn't fit him at all!"

And another thing to add to my list of what to ask Sieghart once I corner him: ask why on Bermesiah does everyone think my name is so strange.

However unfortunate, this was how the rest of the classes before lunch went. There was always the whispers before class started, then the surprise when my name was relieved, followed by more whispers. Quite frankly by the time lunch arrived, I was fed up with it.

Upon entering the lunch room, I saw that there were several tables with benches set up, and three different lines that led to different types of food. I sighed, not really in the mood to stand in any sort of line. Perhaps I'd just wait until I got back to the house to eat something. So instead of getting in line I scanned the room for Arme, which didn't take too long as nobody else in this school that I had met had had her hair color. I found her sitting at a table closer to the back of the room, by herself, quietly eating her food. Which for all intents and purposes seemed a little odd. She was never the quiet type, that was more of my thing. Something had to be up.

"Hey Arme." I said once I had reached her table and sat down. "What are you doing way over here? Trying to be me?"

"Lass!" Arme exclaimed upon seeing me. She hugged me. "Nobody would let me sit with them! They all think I'm weird and I don't even know what I did." She said, frowning.

"Well then they don't know what they are missing out on." I said, nodding. I grinned slightly. "Although I can live with that; it means more for me."

She blushed and pulled away. "You're terrible Lass."

"Hey look there he is!" A girl shouted from nowhere, and the next thing I knew there were a handful of girls swarming the table.

"Move over shorty!" One of them called, shoving Arme over a bit so that her spot could be taken by the girl who had spoken.

"Hey I was sitting there!" Arme protested, glaring at the girl, who promptly waved the mage off. The rest of the girls that were crowded around the table followed the first girl's actions and one by one they pushed Arme out of the way until the mage had been pushed so far that she fell off the bench. Seriously, what was with these girls? If they wanted to sit at this table so badly they didn't have to push Arme out of the way. There was plenty of room at the table without it. I shook my head and stood up, going over to Arme and offering a hand to her.

"C'mon Arme let's go somewhere it's not quite so crowded." I said, smiling slightly at the mage.

She smiled back and took my hand, allowing me to pull her off the floor. Still holding her hand, I led her out of the room, but not before I managed to hear the furious comments coming from the table we had just left.

"Who does she think she is?"

"What does she have that we don't?"

"You know I heard that the transferred here together. Do you think they're related?"

"I doubt it. Someone like that couldn't be related to someone as attractive as him."

"Then what is she to him?"

"Well, I think we'll just have to find out, now won't we?"

I didn't like the way the way that last question had been said. It sounded menacing, like something devilish was planned. Instinctively, I pulled Arme closer to me. "Lass?" She asked, looking up at me.

I shook my head. "It's nothing, don't worry about it." It was then that the bell rang decided to ring, and Arme and I were forced to go our separate ways. "Be careful, ok?" She gave me a confused look, but I just shook my head and headed off to class.

/

The rest of the time passed like all the other classes had, and were just about as annoying. P.E., which turned out to stand for 'Physical Education', was my last class of the day, and it turned out to be somewhat boring, and would've been completely uneventful if not for three things; one, you had to wear a special outfit for the class comprised of a white short sleeved shirt with a black stripe down the sleeves and black shorts. This led to my striker mark being visible, which in turn led to the last thing: the class was that both boys and girls, 'co-ed' as someone had called it.

And of course upon my exiting of where the boys changed, the hushed conversations began once again as class had yet to start. I just rolled my eyes and picked a spot away from the rest of the crowd to lean against the wall. But as my luck would unfortunately have it, a decent sized group of both boys and girls broke away from the main body of the class to come over and bug me.

"Lass!" One girl exclaimed, throwing her arms around my neck. Ugh. "I missed you so much!" How do you miss someone you don't even know?

"Get off." I stated, removing her arms. "It's not like I know you." It's not like you're Arme.

The girl pouted, but before she could say anything more one of the guys in the group spoke up. "Dude where'd you get that tattoo!" He exclaimed while pointing at said mark.

"Don't you mean why? Why would anyone want a tattoo? It hurts to get one!"

"You wouldn't understand it's a guy thing."

"Oh who cares about his tattoo just look at his arms! They're so strong and muscular!"

"And that would a girl thing."

"Yes no shush!"

"And he's so skinny! I bet he works out a lot."

"Of course! How else does someone stay in such good shape?"

Ugh. How annoying can they get?

So to get away from them I decided to move to elsewhere in the room. Didn't do me any good though, as the group just followed me. Obviously they don't have any perception of when someone wants to be left alone. Why did I agree to come to this silly place again? Oh right, Arme. Dang it, why does she have to be so convincing and cute?

"Alright class line up it's time to start." A tall, burly looking man called, coming from seemingly nowhere and saving me from annoyance that was the group that wouldn't leave me alone. And with that the class began, and nothing more really happened. There was a bunch of running, apparently in preparation for this thing called 'the mile' or whatever. The running for now was just five laps around the gym, a ridiculously easy task. It's not like I didn't run enough back home.

After the running, was playing some game called 'Basketball' where you are in two teams and throw an orange ball around and try to get the ball in the hoop of the opposing team. Simple and pointless, although for some reason everyone else seemed to think it was fun. Shooting a ball into a hoop, oh yes. Terribly fun. I'd much rather do something more practical, like sharpening one's skills for battle...So I just leaned against the wall and watched, not feeling like playing at all. Naturally the teacher had to notice and he tried to convince me play, but I refused. It's not like I cared about these 'grades' or whatever they were called.

After what seemed like a countless amount of time, the last bell of the day finally rang and we were allowed to go back and change into our regular clothes.

"Hey dude why didn't you join in the game? We probably could've used you." One of the boys asked me shortly after I had finished changing.

"Because it was a pointless game." I said simply, tying up the laces of my shoes.

"That will get you a bad grade, you know."

I just shrugged and began to head out. "Not like I care." I muttered as I left the room. Finally, this cursed school day was over, and I did not want to come again. Perhaps I could feign sickness tomorrow...I shook my head and sighed. No, that wouldn't work. Arme would see right through it, just like she always seemed to. Maybe instead I'll just wait until we're back here tomorrow and after Arme's left to her class I'll just ditch this place. Hmm, yes, I think that should work.

"Lass!" A cheery voice said from somewhere ahead of me.

"Huh?" I looked up to see that I was at the entrance to this place, where Ele and Arme were waiting. Finally, sane girls.

"So how was your day?" The mage asked, coming over and giving me a hug.

I shrugged. "Eh. What about you, though?"

She frowned. "Everyone keeps calling me short!"

"That's because you are, shortcake." Ele stated.

Arme then rounded on her. "Don't call me that!"

"Ya ya whatever shortcake." Ele muttered, rolling her eyes. "Now c'mon let's get home before they start wondering where we are." With that, she turned around and walked off.

"Oh I swear I'll get her one day!" Arme fumed.

I just laughed. "C'mon short stuff." I said, beginning to follow after Ele.

"Hey not you to! Get back here Lass!"

/

And that was how school went, generally. Except for the fact that I did stop going to the classes; I had had enough of them the first day. Arme seemed to be enjoying them more did, but then again she always did seem to love learning. During the school hours my hiding place had become that of the roof of the building, at least most of the time. Sometimes, however, I left the building entirely, choosing instead to explore the city.

We needed to talk to Sieghart, but as the days went by he almost seemed to be avoiding us. According to Rowen he'd been around, just not when Arme and I were anywhere in the vicinity. But I was determined to get some answers. Sieghart couldn't avoid us forever. I asked Rowen what Sieghart did during the day that kept him so busy and it turned out to be some sort of business or whatever. But the guy had to come home eventually, right? So I'd just wait on the stairs near the entrance and ambush him then. Arme had also joined in on the plan, though she only made it a few hours after midnight before falling asleep.

It was rather early in the morning when the immortal finally made his appearance, stepping quietly through the front door. He didn't seem to have noticed me, at least not until I called out to him.

"Lass! What are you doing up so late?" He exclaimed upon seeing me.

"Shh, you might wake her." I said, motioning to Arme who was sleeping leaning against me. "But in any case, I'm here to get some answers. After all, you have been avoiding us, now haven't you, Sieghart?"

"Now there's a perfectly good explanation for-" He paused, a look of realization dawning on his face and I grinned in triumph. He had realized his mistake; answering to his original name and thus confirming who he was. "Very clever Lass." He said. "I commend you."

"You didn't really think I'd never figure it out, did you? After all no matter what time Arme and I seem to have found ourselves in, it's guaranteed that you of the entire chase should still be running around somewhere. Your 'Siegfried' act didn't fool me for a second." He didn't really need to know the truth of how long it had taken me. I wouldn't really like to admit that to anyone, it was just pathetic.

"Of course." Sieghart said, leaning against a nearby wall. He had a slight smile on his face that almost seemed like he didn't believe me; he didn't press the subject, however. "So you want to know what happened, do you. The truth in full?"

I nodded. "That would be nice. That and why exactly you have been avoiding the two of us if you knew who we were."

Sieghart sighed and shook his head. "I have met the reincarnations of the others and at first when Rowen told me about you two I thought that it would be another case of that. However when I found out what it was that you had been wearing when the boy found the two of you, I began to suspect that you really were the mage and thief that I had once known. So, naturally, I had to meet you for yourself."

"You didn't guess that it was us just by our names?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, as some of the others had the same name despite being a reincarnation."

"Then how did you know it was us?"

He pointed to my left arm. "That striker mark of yours. If you had just been a reincarnation of yourself, you wouldn't have still had it. That was all the proof I needed to confirm your identities."

"And yet you still didn't even bother to explain anything to either of us." I said, annoyed.

"I didn't want to have this conversation, that's why. I didn't want to have to tell you what happened. Although I can't tell you how you came to this time. The two of you disappeared after that one quake and it was assumed that you had departed this world."

I looked at him suspiciously. "'Didn't want to have this conversation'? You sound like something really bad happened. Is it the reason why this place is so messed up? Why you have to have some lame permit to carry a weapon?" Sieghart nodded solemnly, but didn't say anything. "Well?" I asked impatiently.

"Don't you want to wait until Arme is awake?"

"No, I'll fill her in later. Because for all I know if I wait until she's awake you may very well have disappeared and I am not about to miss my chance to get some answers." I said firmly.

"Smart boy." Sieghart said grimly. He then took a deep breath. "Alright here goes...a few days after the disappearance of you two, a single man attacked the castle."

"Just one man?" I asked incredulously. "Did he have a death wish or something?"

"So it seemed, but this person had strange magic that none of us had ever seen before." Sieghart looked to the floor. "He took each one of them down with an unnatural ease. And unfortunately, this man had done his research. He knew what I was, knew that I was immortal. So he came with a strange talisman, one that made it so that only mortals could come within fifty feet on him." He stopped talking at that, and I didn't need him to say it to figure out what that had meant. He had witnessed the entire chase be murdered in cold blood-and couldn't do anything to stop it. That...that must've been pretty harsh. It was no wonder he didn't want to tell Arme and I. For one thing it would be admitting that he failed, and the other that it would most likely force him to relive some pretty painful memories. I almost felt kinda bad for being so annoyed at him earlier.

"Sieghart I'm...I'm sorry." I muttered, unsure of what to say. These kinds of situations were never the sort of thing I was best with. Perhaps an attempt to change the subject would work. "What about Rowen? He's got-"

"Ronan's same last name?" Sieghart said, cutting me off. He had finally looked up and even in the dim light I could see that he had been just barely holding back tears. "Yes, I noticed that myself. But somehow I doubt that Ronan was the only one in his family, so there were others to carry on the name." An ever so light grin came onto his face. "Although I guess I should tell you; everybody has a last name here, regardless of standings."

"Wha? How does that work?" I asked, confused.

It was a bitter smile that shaped the immortal's face next. "The man that was responsible for the down fall of the chase soon after became ruler as there was no longer any resistance to him. He shaped the world in his own way, implementing his own laws and ways of living. Eventually the magic died out and the only threat that became of the world was man itself. There were no monsters, or evil witches to post a threat."

"How can magic die? Although I guess that would be why Arme can't perform any spells..." I trailed off a bit, realizing something. "Wait, if the magic died, then wouldn't the magic preserving you also have disappeared?"

A rueful smile crossed his face. "That's what I thought as well when I realized what had happened. But, to my dismay, no matter how hard I tried I could not kill myself." At this he gestured to the scars that he had. "These scars are the only thing that remains to testify of my attempt at suicide."

"I...I see." I said slowly, looking down. Suicide, a concept I understood well. Some people I know, like Arme, can't quite grasp why someone would want to commit the act of killing yourself. But I knew, I understood. I had thought about it, wished for it during my possession. I wasn't always aware of what the witch was forcing me to do, but the few things she did let me in on were never pleasant, the images something I would never be able to forget. They were always of murder and deceit, or any other foul thing you can imagine. And then she would lock me away again, back in the very depths of my mind, completely powerless, unable to do anything. It was at these times that I would wish for death that something would happen that would put an end to my misery. And so the witch would taunt me, allow me to have control of my body for just long enough for me to have the belief that I could put an end to my life. She'd let me get close, let me take hold of the knife, let me put the tip to my chest, ready to puncture and cause the end to come. But I would never get any farther than that, no matter how fast I went, as always a second before I was about to do the act she would roughly steal back control, laughing manically. I don't know how many times or how loud I screamed. And of course just like she always said 'scream as loud and as long as you like, no one will hear you.'

The day that the Grand Chase came and beat up my body enough that Kaze'Aze could no longer control it was probably the happiest moment of my life that I could remember. Because if she couldn't control it because of the damage, that would mean that I would die soon and control would be reverted back to me, for however much longer I would live. I was happy because my torment would finally be over. And at least I would die as myself.

After the witch had released control, I don't think the chase noticed me at first, as they were too busy dealing with another of Kaze'Aze's forms. I don't remember anything after the very start of the battle, as I gave myself up to the increasing black that had been filling my vision in what I had hoped would be death. But no, it was not death that I was met with. Instead, I woke up in one of the beds that were in the castle's infirmary to be greeted by Ronan, who in turn it was apparently to watch me. Since that day I've been free of the witch's control. But sometimes I still wonder; how long will it be this time? How long will it be before she takes control again? How long before she shoves me back into my mental prison? How long will this cruel joke of her's last this time? It would always be just right before I got what I wanted in the past. How long before she says, 'Foolish boy, how could you possibly think I would let you go that easily? You know I love watching you squirm, hearing you scream.' It wasn't fair at all, why did I-

My thoughts were interrupted as a hand was placed atop my head. "Lass," Sieghart said softly, "it does one no good to lose yourself in memories of the past. That much at least I have learned."

I frowned and glared at him. "How do you know that's what I was doing?"

He smiled at me. "I could see it in your face, kid." He ruffled my hair slightly. "Now get some sleep, you do still have school tomorrow you know."

I grumbled a bit. School, I really could do without it. And it's not like I even actually go to the classes most of the time. "Fine fine, but just answer two more things for me."

"And what would those be?"

"How far exactly in time did Arme and I come?"

"I'd say about roughly three thousand years or so."

I smirked slightly. "Well then, that really makes you an old man, now doesn't it?"

"Don't push it kid."

"We'll see. Now one last thing: why does everyone consider my name to be so strange?" I asked.

Sieghart laughed and stood up straight. "Of course you wouldn't know. After all, here in this time your name is the term one might use to describe a girl."

"What?" I exclaimed, surprised and annoyed. "Please tell me you're joking."

The immortal laughed again. "No, I am very much serious about that. I never found out exactly how or why it happened, but 'lass' is something that would be used to describe a girl, typically one that the speaker finds to be young. For example, someone might call Arme a 'young lass' because she is young and female."

"Hmph, you certainly seem to be amused by this." I said, rather annoyed.

He just grinned in an amused way. "Of course, it does give me the perfect excuse to call you Lassy, after all."

"You know your annoying, right old man?" I grumbled, glaring at him.

"Hey, I'm only stating the facts, Lassy-boy." He said before laughing and heading up the stairs.

I swear, one day I _will_ get him for that...

* * *

This chapter was actually a lot longer then I had originally intended, but it just kept writing itself...oh well. School was kinda fun to do. Haha poor Lass, he gets his first encounter with fan girls XD And is it sad that when thinking of what Lass and Arme were going to wear I had to resort to flipping trough manga I own just to get ideas? Haha I guess that what I get for being a girl that isn't into fashion. Although I always had a general idea of what I wanted Lass to wear: shirt jacket and jeans. Arme was the real tricky one.

And Lass discovers the unfortunate implications of his name XD Because it's my theory that he has the name he does because where Arme and him are from 'lass' doesn't have the same meaning that it does today. And I feel sorry for Sieghart. I've put him through a lot for the sake of this story (like making him witness the GC crew's death and be completely helpless. Cruel, aren't I?)

Oh, and if anyone who plays NAGC (or if you have it on whatever server you play on) can tell me what the new hero dungeon is like I'd be grateful. My comp just died and I'm now stuck using a relative's comp that can't handle GC. If you could tell me I'll give you a cookie! Thanks.

-Xire


	4. Chapter 4

Woo, next chapter. Enjoy.

* * *

"Let me get this straight, it's _how _many years in the future?"

"You heard me."

"Three-thousand? How could it be three-thousand?"

It was the next morning, and Arme, Sieghart and myself were situated in the kitchen, the former two conversing more about our present predicament. When Arme had woken up this morning I had told her what I had learned from the immortal. Upon hearing the explanation, the mage had hurried downstairs to find Sieghart to get some her own questions answered. In her rush to find him, she hadn't bothered to get dressed, still completely clad in her light purple night gown.

"I believe it's called time travel. What a silly question for a mage of all people to ask."

"Hey well it's not like anyone's actually managed time travel before!"

"Until now, that is, as it is exactly what you two have managed. I do have some theories though as to how it happened."

"And those would be?"

"That having had done his research, the man that attacked knew what kind of mage you were, and didn't want to have to deal with you. So he devised an easy way to get you out of the picture, where you couldn't hinder his plans."

"But what about Lass? He doesn't have any magic."

"My guess would be that him coming with you was only because he was with you at the time. If he hadn't, I'm sure he would've been killed with the others."

"I think I feel insulted." I muttered, glaring a bit at the immortal. "You really think I'd be that week as to let that freak kill me?"

He just shook his head. "Lass, you don't know just how strong he was. And I wouldn't say that any of the chase were weak, just not quite strong enough. It's just that cocky attitude of yours getting you that makes you think you could've beaten him."

"Hmph. Well then what's so special about Arme being a mage that made him send her here?"

"Think a bit on it boy. All of his power came from that amulet of his. Now if he were to met with a powerful mage, in this case Arme, then she could match his power, if not surpass it. As such, she could destroy the amulet, he'd be powerless get sent to the castle dungeon the chase would still be intact with his plans ruined."

"Whatever." I muttered, placing my head on the table.

"I have one more question to ask you Sieghart: why did you change your name to Siegfried?" Arme asked.

Sieghart shook his head. "Siegfried isn't the first of what I have changed my name to. Every so many years I move to a different city and use a different name. If I didn't people would start to get suspicious as to what I really am." He explained. "After all, magic, monsters, immortality...it's nothing but myths and legends now. If people were to find out what I am it would be rather annoying. Half of them would keep pestering me about how to obtain immortality while the other half would be scientists that want to capture me to find out what makes me tick."

Arme frowned. "That's not fair. You should be allowed to live in peace."

The immortal just shrugged. "That's just the way it works these days. People want to live forever because they don't fully understand the price that comes with it. They don't realize that at one point, it will cause them to be completely alone." As he said this he stood up from the table, a dark look coming into his eyes. He shook his head again shortly after. "Now for a change of subject you two should be getting off to school." He began to leave the room. "Oh and Arme, you should really make sure that little Lassy actually attends his classes. I've gotten some calls from school stating that he tends to skip out on them." With that he left the room. I glared at his retreating back, annoyed at the 'little Lassy' comment. He actually had the nerve to call me little even when I was still taller than him, even after all the time that's passed. Stupid immortal.

"Lass! How dare you skip out of your classes!" Arme exclaimed, rounding on me.

I sighed. Blasted immortal. "Easily." I stated simply.

"Buy why would you do it? They are actually interesting things to learn!"

"Why? Well because they're annoying, for one thing. Everyone seems to have to either comment on my name, my hair, or my Striker's mark. That and my affinity for learning isn't the same as yours."

She frowned. "You're hopeless Lass. You know if I could I'd firestorm you right now for skipping." She said, crossing her arms. "I'm definitely going to make sure you attend your classes now."

I sighed. "Right, I wouldn't expect anything different." At least I had gotten away without having some sort of magic launched at me, the only advantage that this time had.

Arme stood up. "Alright let's go!" She began to make her way for the door, but I grabbed her arm before she could go too far.

"I don't really think you want to go anywhere in that." I stated.

She looked at me with a confused look that was almost too cute. "Why not?" She asked.

"Look at what you're wearing. You haven't changed out of what you slept in."

She blinked a few times before looking down at herself, an 'oh' of realization escaping her before she ran upstairs to get changed. I shook my head and leaned against the door frame to wait for her to come back down. I had changed as soon as I had woken up. It was a simple outfit; the shirt was gray with short sleeves, although long black sleeves were attached just before the cuff of the short sleeve. The pants were black, 'cargo' I believe Rowen had called them. They were perfect for hiding things in, with the size the pockets were. As such, I had taken the liberty of hiding a handful of kunai inside.

After a few minutes of waiting Arme reappeared, wearing this time a purple dress that had purple fringes along with knee high socks to go with her shoes. When she reached me she grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door, with a simple enthusiastic 'C'mon!'

I'll never understand why she likes this school so much. Sure, I understand learning magic that was one thing, but this? No.

/

We reached the school a bit late, which was a big deal apparently, at least for Arme, anyways. Something about missing part of the day's lesson, or something. Before running off to her own classes, the mage told me that she would be waiting at the end of class to make sure that I didn't skip out and actually went to my next class. I couldn't help but sigh. That old man just had to go and tell her I never attended anything, didn't he? Now I really have to go to them. Although…no one actually said that I had to pay attention to class…

I agreed to Arme had said before entering the classroom, to which I was greeting by the teacher. "Ah Lass, so nice of you to join us for once." She stated. "Please have a seat and we will continue." I didn't respond to her, and just took up a seat in the back. I was already ready for this day to be over as the teacher continued rambling about whatever it had been before I had arrived. There wasn't anything else to do, so I just watched her with a bored look.

"Hey, Lassy." Some boy whispered to left. I just ignored them as I was _not _ about to respond to that name. "C'mon Lassy talk to me." A finger began to poke my arm. If he was smart, he'd quit that before he lost that finger. "I wanna know if you're really as girly as your name suggests." Me, girly? As if. It's not my fault that this time period distorted my name and he better not take it any farther if he wants to live. "You know come to think of it you even look a little girly. A girly name for a girly guy!" That's it. I stood up and pulled the guy out of his seat and placed him in a headlock. And not a light one either.

"You might want to think twice before calling me that again." I said in a low, almost menacing tone.

"Lass put him down this instant!" I looked up to see that the entire class was watching, along with the teacher.

"What makes you think I will just because you asked?" The teacher narrowed her eyes at my question, obviously not liking me questioning the authority she supposedly had.

"I do intend to at least teach him a lesson he won't be forgetting anytime soon." I stated calmly.

She came up and stood in front of me. "You will him down this instant." She said as she fixed me with what she probably figured to be an intimidating stare. Quite frankly it wasn't working; I'd seen monsters that were scarier then she was. "Or do you really intend to kill him? Do you really think that he deserves death just for something immature he might have said to you?"

"Hmph, fine, whatever." I muttered, letting the guy drop to the ground. I wasn't letting him go because of anything the teacher had said. I wasn't actually ever going to kill him, just scare him a bit and perhaps knock him out. From how the guy was just laying on the floor I think mission accomplished. The guy was still alive and breathing, just a bit unconscious.

"Now because you seem to be the type to run off if I just tell you where to go, I will be escorting you to the principal's office to discuss your punishment." The teacher stated, glaring and grabbing my arm. I have to admit one thing about the woman; she may be unintimidating and old looking, but she had one heck of grip. Even as she dragged me out of the classroom and towards where ever this principal might be she never let go of my arm, despite my attempts to get rid of her. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a bruise there by the time she let go. It didn't take long to get to where the principal was, especially at the woman's brisk pace. Even then, she didn't let go of my arm until we were in the office and she had shoved me into a chair.

The principal was an old balding man, and the small amount of hair that he did have on the sides were as white as my own hair, if not more so. He had short beard, of which he was stroking while he stared at me. I didn't like it. In fact, I had never liked it when people stared at me.

"So," he began in an old voice that matched his appearance, "you're this Lass boy that I've been hearing about. You seem to have made quite the impression on the students here. The staff as well. I must admit that when I first heard of your name I expected it to be a girl." He waved his hand. "But I'm sure you've already heard that multiple times. Now," he adjusted some papers on his desk, "you certainly seem like quite the rebel from what I've heard and can now see. You've skipped classes you have a tattoo, and even bleached your hair." There it was again, people going and assuming that my hair color isn't natural. Can't they just accept the fact that I was born with it? And since when did having a tattoo mark me as a rebel? I couldn't help but glare a bit at the man. He was annoying just like the rest of them. "Now Minerva, what has he done that warranted you dragging him here?" He asked, turning his gaze towards the woman that had forced me to come here.

"He put in a headlock and tried to strangle one of my students." She said a bit indignity.

The principal looked sharply back at me. "Is this true, young man?" He said it with the annoying tone that of a disapproving parent.

"Look, you can all stop freaking out already. I was never going to kill the guy, and like I told her" I jerked a thumb over in Minerva's direction, "I just wanted to scare him a bit."

"Well it's still an offence that you need to be punished for." He paused, as if thinking to himself. "Yes, I do believe that for the next week you shall be attending after school detention." What in the world was that? Whatever, I don't really care. After all, it's not like I'll be going to whatever it was.

"But sir, don't you think that's a bit lenient? Shouldn't you suspend him or something?" She sounded highly offended, and I couldn't help but grin a little at her reaction.

"No no, this is my verdict and it won't change. You can take him back to class now." With that the conversation to be over and there was to be no arguing. So of course Minerva had to grab onto my arm with that same grip and drag me around some more.

Ugh, at this rate I doubt I'll make it to lunch before I go insane.

/

As promised at the end of class when I exited the room I found Arme waiting there. She smiled at me and grabbed my hand as she began to pull me to my next class.

"So how was your first class?" She asked innocently.

"Terrible, but it's not like I expected anything else from it." I stated simply.

The mage frowned. "Oh c'mon Lass I'm sure that it wouldn't be all that bad if you actually tried to like it. I mean isn't it fun to learn all the things this time has to offer?"

"Maybe I'd like it better if it wasn't so full of idiots." I muttered.

"Just give it a try, will you? Please, for me?" She looked at me with that cute pout on her face that I never could seem to resist.

"Alright, I'll try but I make no promises." I gave in, sighing.

"Yay!" Arme exclaimed happily, giving me a hug. I couldn't help the small smile that came onto my face. She was always so easily made happy things. But that was just one of the things I like about her.

She let me go as we reached my next classroom. "I guess I'll see you after class then." I said.

"Yep!" She replied happily. "And I better find that you haven't run off when I get back!" She said before running off.

I sighed before entering the classroom and taking my seat in the back. I couldn't help but think once again how I was ready for this whole dumb thing to be over with.

/

The rest of the day went by in a fairly uneventful way, unless you want to count the fact that half-way through my third class rain could be heard from outside. The one other thing that happened was in the last class of the day, P.E. Of which the class was instructed that today was the day for running 'the mile' as the teacher called it. At the mention of it an audible groan could be heard from practically the entire class. Personally though, I don't know what they were complaining about. Running a mile wasn't hard at all; in fact I'd run more than that back home.

Although as it would be we didn't actually run anywhere, just more laps than usual, about 20 of them, around the gym. The reason apparently being because it was raining outside. Cowards, a little rain isn't going to hurt anyone.

By the end of the boring task (because really, going around in circles that many times isn't that exciting let alone interesting), there were several people panting and lying about on the floor after recording their time. Because that was supposedly the whole point we had run the thing; to see how fast we could do it. I didn't bother to check let alone record my time; I didn't find it important enough.

At the end of class and as I was about to leave the changing room to go met Arme I was confronted by some of the other boys that were there.

"Dude, how'd you do it?" One of them asked.

"Do what?" I asked in a disinterested manner.

"Run the whole of the mile like it was nothing!" Another exclaimed.

I just shrugged. "Because it was nothing." With that I took my leave.

Outside the gym as I had expected, Arme was waiting. She smiled at me as I approached.

"Ready to go?" She asked, taking my hand once I got close enough.

"More then you know." I stated simply as we made our way to entrance of the school.

Soon we met up with Ele, who had left this morning without us because she hadn't wanted to be late. Shortly after that we made it the entrance of the school where Rowen was found waiting by the doors.

"Rowen!" Ele yelled, running up to Ronan's look alike. "What are you doing here?"

"Well since it's raining pretty hard out there I came to pick the three of you up." He answered with a smile.

"Good because I hate walking home in the rain!" Ele exclaimed. Great, a trip in one of those metal contraptions they call a car.

/

It was some hours later after we had arrived back at Sieghart's place and it was still raining as hard as ever outside, fully complete with thunder and lightning. I had decided to take a shower in an attempt to relax and wash away the day's earlier annoyances. The warm water felt good against my skin and I'll admit to staying in there until it ran out. It was only then that I dragged myself from it to get dressed and return to my room. It was there that I found an Arme sized lump under the blankets of my bed.

Curious, I went over and pulled up the blanket just enough to see under and sure enough Arme was curled up under there. "Hey Arme…what are you doing under there?" The mage peaked out a bit from where she was curled to look at me. She opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment there came a loud thunderclap and she instead curled up even more. "Ah, I see." Her actions were enough of an answer.

She would do this sort of thing all the time back home whenever there was a thunderstorm, without fail. The first time it had happened I had asked her way she was hiding under my bed and not her own. To which she had simply replied with 'because in there is all alone and in here I at least have you.' It was on that day that I also learned of Arme's fear of thunder.

I shook my head. "Alright then Arme I guess you can stay here until the storm passes."

She nodded and reached out to take my hand. She flinched as more thunder could be heard coming from outside. "You won't leave me, right?" She asked, sounding scared.

"I won't leave." I said softly. It was the same things that we would always say when this would happen; it was almost like a routine, but one that I didn't mind. "Promise."

It was then as part of the routine I laid down on the bed and pulled Arme close, blanket and all. With me here she poked her head out of the blankets and curled into me instead of the bed, and I wrapped my arms around her in more of a protective way.

It was here, in this position that we would both fall asleep.

* * *

You know, I really don't think school agrees with poor Lass. Haha oh well he's just got to deal with it, eh? And at least he got a good end to an otherwise bad day.

I don't have too much to say right now I guess, except for the fact that this might actually only have about 1-2 chapters left. Of the main story, anyways. I've got other things planned, like some deleted scenes (I'll explain why I took them out of the main story when we get there, but it was for certain plot related reasons) that will get posted after the last chapter of the main story. I also actually have an alternate ending to this which may or may not span multiple chapters. But the thing is for that is when I first started this fic I had the original ending all planned and I was determined for it to be that way. But then during the writing of last chapter, another possibility for the ending turned up, and it really interested me. SO since I really liked both endings I decided to do both, with the first being the 'original ending' and the other being the 'alternate ending'. When we get there you guys can choose which one you like best haha. Me technically I like both although the alternate has provided more material for my mind to go off and have fun with.

Anywho that's all I have to say for now, see ya next time!

-Xire


	5. Chapter 5

**EDIT 10/23/12: I added a handful of paragraphs at the end, it's a little bit of fluff (maybe lol) and a little pit poor** **Lass. **

Hello all!

I'll be the first to admit that while writing this chapter, my plans for this story kinda went under revision. None of the content in the previous chapters have changed, but my approach to the rest of the events in this story have. I was looking at the original ending I had planned for this and, instead of doing that end and an alternate end, I've scrapped the original end completely and the alternate end has now become the real end, which will warrant this story having a few more chapters. There'll be more author's notes at the end of this chap (just don't wanna say it here just to be on the safe side of avoiding any possibility of spoilers) for those of you (if any) that read these.

Enjoy the chapter :)

* * *

It was Saturday, the first of the two days that were free of the retched place called school. It was supposed to be a day that was completely free of anything to do with that place and yet, to which I wasn't that surprised, all Arme seemed to want to do was sit around reading one of the so called 'textbooks'. I suppose she'll never change, no matter what time we find ourselves stuck in.

"Arme, how can you possibly find that stuff interesting?" I asked, leaning against the back of the couch the mage was sitting on.

"Oh come on Lass! It's interesting to see what they've developed in the place of magic!" She answered in an enthusiastic way. "How can you not find this interesting?"

"Easy, I just don't." I said, shrugging.

Arme looked like he was about to say more, but instead Sieghart's voice cut in. "Alright kids it's time for you to get another history lesson." He said coming into the living room that Arme and I were in.

"Really?" Arme asked, looking enthused. When the immortal nodded, it only served to make her more excited. "Where are we going?"

"To the museum; there's something there that I want the two of you to see." Sieghart answered. He turned around and began to leave the room. "Meet Rowen at the car in five minutes."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "What, not going to take us there yourself?" I asked a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

The immortal didn't turn around to face me as he answered the question. "I have no desire to see it for a second time, once was bad enough. But the two of you should see it at least once." With that said, he left the room. Sheesh, with the way he was acting you'd guess he was sending us to some sort of burial ground. But then again, perhaps that was exactly what this museum was as after all it's not like we had anything called that back home. Although from the name, it doesn't sound much like where a bunch of old bodies are buried under the ground. Perhaps then it's more like the archives that the castle had, where what had happened in the past was documented.

I didn't get much more time to mull over what a museum could be as soon as Sieghart was gone, Arme jumped up from the couch and, although I really should've been expecting it, the mage grabbed my hand and dragged me towards where we had been told to go.

And unfortunately, but of course, the method of transportation to this 'Museum' as Sieghart had called it, was that of the metal contraption called a car. It was basically a metal box with seats inside sitting upon four wheels. In one aspect it almost reminded me of a carriage, except minus the need for horses to pull it. But then again, I never much cared for carriages either. Neither of them have any of the agility or mobility that I like. Neither of them can quietly sneak up on a place or a person nor make a quick escape to small higher place that's out of sight. No, I'd much rather stick to walking and running.

But back home on Bermesiah there never were that many carriages around, especially in the smaller villages. In the bigger towns you were more appt to see a few a day, but nowhere near as many cars as you see around here. What's more, people actually walked to where they need to go, especially us of the Chase. In this place, however, unless where you need to go is relatively close, it's an almost unthinkable thing to walk everywhere you need to go. With things like this, it's no wonder the people here are getting lazy. It certainly explains why so many were complaining about a simple mile run. It figures that Sieghart would have one as well; it certainly fits his lazy self.

/

The museum was a large, light brownish short of color that almost looked like gold. It was a rather tall building, with four pillars supporting the overhang that was shading the large, double doors from the sun and had several stairs leading up to the doors that were seemingly unnecessary. Why did they need so many of them? To actually force people to walk somewhere?

As we began to walk up the stairs I noticed that on each of the walls on the corners of the buildings were large, somewhat decorative posters that were announcing an exhibit that was apparently supposed to be more interesting then everything else. I only glanced at what it said at first, that of which it was saying not really sinking in until a few moments later, forcing me to do a double take. I stopped as I read what it was saying, not completely believing it.

_The Grand Chase Exhibit has finally returned to our fair city! Come one, come all to see what once belonged to the possibly the fiercest warriors in history!_

That was what it said, and yet, I had to read it over a few times for what it was saying to really sink in. _Grand Chase Exhibit…_did these people really have within this building things that used to belong to us? Had they really ravaged the castle that much?

"Lass, c'mon, what are you waiting for?"

I was snapped out of my thoughts by Arme's voice suddenly in my ear and her arms wrapping around my left. She was looking up at me with that cute, curious look of hers. I shook my head and pointed to the poster that was on the wall. "Did you see those?" I asked her simply, answering her question with one of my own instead.

She blinked, but then looked from me to where I had pointed. She stared at it for a few moments before looking back at me and then proceeded to quickly drag me up the stairs to where Rowen was waiting at the top.

"Ronan! Did you see that?! Did you know it was here?!" Arme asked hurriedly as we went up the stairs, gripping my arm with one hand and using the other to wave wildly at the exhibit poster. Her energy never ceases to amaze me sometimes.

"Er, well yes I did, I saw it the last time it was here." Rowen replied, looking as if he had been thrown for a moment when Arme had called him Ronan. But it wasn't a hard thing to do, call him by the wrong name. After all he was a crazy amount like the knight had been. Same hair, same voice, and practically the same personality, if not for a few small differences; but those I simply attributed to the fact that this boy wasn't raised to be a knight.

"So it's been around for a while." I stated simply, leaning against one of the pillars.

"Yes." Rowen agreed, nodding. "Since the castle is so close to the city, it was only natural that the exhibit would come here first. It stayed here for awhile before it traveled to a few different cities. But I suppose that's over with and it's finally going to stay here permanently."

"Well let's go in and see it!" Arme exclaimed, grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the front doors. Dragging me around seems to be her favorite activity today, as this is at least the third time she's done it. But then again I suppose it's not so bad considering who it is.

The inside of the museum was just about as large as it had looked on the outside. There were various displays everywhere you looked, all of things that were apparently from the past. So then, it was like the archives back home, only this had visual displays instead of just rows and rows of parchment. There were weapons, statues, wall hangings, all manner of things. In some areas, even, there were these things that were human looking but they weren't alive. They weren't made of stone, so they couldn't exactly be statues, but they weren't alive either. They almost seemed like stiff, giant dolls.

…Whatever, they don't really matter. It's not what we came here for.

"Ah, here it is." Rowen spoke up as he led Arme and I to one section of the museum where an entire wall was taken up with what looked like display cases. As we approached them, it sounded like Ronan's double began to explain something, but I didn't pay much attention to him as my interest was more focused on what was on display.

The first case that I came upon held what looked to be the weapons that had belonged to Jin; his Tonfa, Chamma, and Vajira were all there, a bit worn and degraded looking from age, but still recognizable. At the top of the glass casing where what looked like a metal nameplate was placed simply read 'Fighter'. No name, no description. It was like they didn't even know anything about who Jin was, why he fought with us or even at the very least his name.

It wasn't just Jin, either. It was all of them, every single last one of the display cases were without a name and only had one word that stated what that person specialized in, yet only a few of them were actually correct. Elesis and Ronan got the title of knight, while Arme, myself, Ryan, Lire, and Amy were a little off. I was called a sword master (which was actually a little funny considering that's what Elesis' third ranking had been called), Ryan got Warrior and Lire's was Marksman. Arme and Amy, in my opinion at least, was the furthest from what they actually were. Amy's name plate read 'entertainer', but considering what her weapons of choice were, that wasn't so hard of a conclusion to come to if you didn't know anything about the girl. Arme's, however, simply stated 'unknown'. How dumb can these people get? I mean seriously, how hard is it to figure out that she's a mage from her weapons? Or even a magic user at the very least.

That wasn't the only thing amiss, either. Mine, Arme's, and Ronan's all had a weapon missing, and all of Sieghart's were missing completely. Ronan's was his Tyrfing, Arme's was her War Staff and for me it was my Nodachi. For me and Arme however, it made sense that our highest ranking weapons would be missing as we had them with us when we had arrived in this time. Sieghart had never died, so it made sense that he probably had his hidden somewhere in case they were need, but Ronan's on the other hand…why would his forth rank be missing when none of his others were?

"So all of these were really found at the castle?" Arme's questioning voice finally broke through my thoughts and I looked up from the display, seeing the mage wasn't too far away, standing next to Rowen and the display case that held Ronan's weapons.

"Yep." The blue haired boy confirmed, nodding. "History tells us that they were the fiercest warriors to ever exist."

"That's because they were." I stated as I came up behind the two. "No one could beat them." No one should have anyways. It was constantly a bitter thought, knowing that if we had simply been there, perhaps we could've changed the outcome. It was the whole reason why Arme and I and were sent to this retched time in the first place…why _Arme _was sent here. I was the mistake, just in the right place at the right time to be taken as well. It was insulting really, to be thought of not worthy enough to get out of the way. I wasn't _that_ weak.

But then again…in the back of my mind I knew that Arme was the most logical one of the chase to transport here, especially after hearing the nature of who had attacked the castle. It was only logical that a magic user such as him would want to get rid of who he thought he couldn't win against in a fight. It made sense that he'd take the easiest way that wouldn't end in a confrontation. I knew all that, but it still didn't stop me from being a little insulted.

"And yet they were, in the end." Rowen stated. "Everything comes to an end eventually. Everyone has someone out there that is better than them."

"It shouldn't have happened." I muttered darkly. We should've been there. Things would've turned out differently if we'd only been there, I'm sure of it. If it would've turned out the same, then why purposely send Arme to this time where she was out of the way?

"Why would you say that? History tells us that they weren't the best group of people to have around."

"What?!" I couldn't help but round on him, my voice rising with each word I spoke. "'Not the best to have around'?! That's crazy! They were the best to have around! Who do you think went around trying to keep the world safe?!" The very idea that we were supposed to be the bad guys was completely ludicrous. I was about to open my mouth to say more, but Arme's sudden grip on my arm stopped me.

"Lass calm down! I'm not happy about this either but it's not his fault that history's been twisted!" The mage exclaimed, an almost pleading look on her face. I could never really stay mad (at least outwardly) whenever she pulled that face. So I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down and putting a lid on my annoyance and what else I might have said if Arme hadn't stopped me. I sighed but said nothing, opening my eyes again and looking down at her. "Thank you." She said softly, squeezing my arm gently before looking back over at Rowen. "Does history really say those things about the chase?" She asked. From the way she was speaking, I could tell that she wasn't happy about this either. She looked a bit depressed and not like her usual cheerful self. I didn't like seeing her like this, not at all. So I moved my arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me.

Rowen nodded, although he still looked like he was a little shocked by my outburst. "Yes, that's what the history books say, anyways."

I watched him carefully, and his expression as he spoke was that of a strange one, and he kept glancing at Ronan's weapons. "You almost seem like you don't believe it." I stated simply, still watching him.

He sighed and looked over at Ronan's weapons again before speaking in a quiet tone. "I'm not really sure. There's just something inside me that wants to say that history is wrong, and that's not how it happened at all. It's like the way that the weapons seem like they should be familiar to me." Well, that was a bit of an odd thing to say. Perhaps he had more of Ronan in him then I had initially thought. He then laughed a bit, a bit of a rueful smile crossing his face. "Perhaps it's because I might've had some strange obsession with this group before."

"Before what?" Arme asked curiously, perking up a little with a little bit of her normal self starting to show. Well that was a good thing, at least.

Rowen sighed and looked back over at us. "Before I lost my memories. I can't remember anything from before a year ago." I raised an eyebrow at this. Was he serious?

"What's the first thing you remember then?" I asked, my curiosity peaked even if I knew what I was thinking was a long shot.

"Waking up in a hospital." He answered. "From what Sieg's told me, before I woke up there I had been missing for a few weeks. Neither of us knows what happened to cause me to be so beat up."

"I see…" I muttered. Interesting, very interesting. Although to tell the truth part of me still thinks it's a long shot. After all, there's no way that Ronan would've lived this long, he wasn't immortal. The only one that was that way was Sieghart. I shook my head. Perhaps the best way instead of confusing myself was to actually go and ask the man myself.

/

It wasn't long after that that we decided to leave, and upon reaching the house again I immediately went on a search to find Sieghart, intent on asking him some questions, Arme following right behind me. It didn't take too long to find him as he was, of course, lounging in the living room on a couch, hands behind his head and eyes closed.

"You know you have some things you need to answer." I stated as soon as we were in earshot.

"No, I'm afraid I didn't know that." He said with a slight grin, not even bothering to open his eyes and look at us. He certainly knew how to be annoying sometimes.

"Sieghart you know he means! We have questions we need you to answer!" Arme exclaimed.

The immortal just chuckled a bit and sat up, finally looking at us. "Alright alright, I figured you have some things you'd want answered once you got back." The grin returned to his face. "But that doesn't mean that I can't give you a hard time."

"Whatever. Just tell us why history is so messed up when it comes to the chase and why none of the displays at that museum place have anyone's names." I practically demanded, not wanting to deal with his antics.

At my question, however, the immortal's face fell and he sighed, looking back down at the couch and running a hand through his hair. "The man who brought about the downfall of the Grand Chase, Drakell, took over the castle and the villages nearby. After that, he slowly began his conquest of the world, rewriting history as he did it. He told everybody that they were never to speak of the chase and what they really did ever again, lest they be punished. Instead, they were told that those of the Grand Chase had been horrid people, and deserved their fate. Now of course the villagers didn't buy it, especially those that were closest to the castle. So they defied Drakell and tried to what they could to keep the spirit of the chase alive. Of course Drakell wouldn't have it so he fed them to the monsters. It didn't take long after that for the people to stop their protests, especially with no one to defend them. And as time went by and generation after generation went by getting further and further from when our group was around, they eventually started to believe the lie."

"Surely the castle's archives would've still had the truth within it-" Arme began to protest, but Sieghart cut her off.

"Drakell knew that apparently, as he destroyed everything that was in the archives. He really didn't want anyone ever knowing the truth. I found out as such when I snuck back in the castle once." He stated. "He was rather thorough in his takeover."

Sieghart then went on to answer the rest of our questions, although some of the answers he gave concerning Rowen I didn't fully believe. It almost seemed like he had come up with them on the spot. He had said that when Rowen had been found that his parents hadn't wanted him anymore, saying that he was too much trouble and stating that he (Sieghart) had just been in the right place at the right time to take in the so called abandoned boy in. I didn't quite buy it as he had never much seemed the type to just randomly for no reason at all visit places like hospitals. But it was getting later in the day and I didn't feel much like arguing.

It didn't long after he had explained what had happened that Sieghart had promptly told the two of us to go to bed before wandering off himself, although he still didn't seem quite right. Then again, this whole time that we've been stuck in this time he hasn't seemed like himself. He's gone from the most lazy and annoying to possibly the most serious. It was a bit unnerving, really...

"I feel sorry for him." I heard Arme mutter as we were climbing the stairs that led to the second floor and our respective bedrooms.

"Huh? You mean Sieghart?" I asked, and she nodded before expanding on what she was thinking.

"He's been through so much, it makes sense that he's acting different. It must've been really hard on him to not be able to stop what happened..." So, she had noticed the change in his behavior too, huh? Not too surprising though, as it is really obvious. "I can't even begin to think what else he might've gone through, after it all happened and when the magic left the world. I suppose it would be really hard to hide the fact that you live forever and be afraid of what might happen if you were found out." I suppose she had a point but...it was still really hard to image Sieghart actually being afraid of something. But even someone like him has to be afraid of something...right? And thinking about it now, what I imagine to be people's reactions to someone living forever probably wouldn't be all that enjoyable. I would think that it would go something like everyone wanting to know how he achieved it and then wanting it for themselves. Like a pack of ravenous wolves...then there would be the scientists. They would most likely want the immortal to experiment on, to figure out what makes him immortal. Kinda like Mari and her fascination with it, although I'm sure it would be a whole lot worse. As in not just throwing random explosives at him or tricking him into eating poison or something else of that nature, but full of poking and prodding and other such unpleasantness.

I was suddenly broken from my train of thought as I felt something tightly squeeze around my waist. Looking down, I wasn't really too surprised to find that Arme was the source, clinging to me tightly with her eyes shut tight and what almost looked like tears threatening to escape...I blinked, a bit confused as to her sudden action. Was she really _that _upset about what had happened to the old man? "Arme...?" Was all I could really think to ask.

A sniff came from the mage before I received an answer. A very quite answer, one that if I didn't have so good of hearing that I might not have heard. "I'm sorry...but it's just that I had this terrible thought where...where what would've happened if you hadn't come with me!" A half-sob escaped her, and her grip on me grew that much more, and I was starting to think that if she held onto me any tighter, something might just break. For such a small person, she certainly didn't have a small grip.

Slowly, I wrapped my own arms around her, in an attempt to calm her down a little and also in hopes to get her to loosen her hold a bit. She was obviously talking about if she had come to the future by herself, and if I had stayed back in our time and died in the attack. It was still an insulting thought really, no matter what Sieghart might say. But I'm sure telling Arme that right now would _not_ help her. So instead I opted for telling her something else, trying to comfort her as best I knew how (which, in my opinion wasn't much, as this wasn't exactly my area of expertise, but I wasn't going to just stand here and do nothing while she cried, especially since I hate it when she does it).

"I didn't though. I came here with you, and I didn't die, and I don't plan to any time soon, either. So don't think of the what-if's and what could've happened. Try to focus more on the present, huh?" Arme didn't say anything, except for a few sniffs and a light sob here and there. Sighing a bit, I tried to think of what else I could possibly tell her to help calm her down. It wasn't exactly going well, and I was reduced to watching her cry. Quite frankly, it annoyed me to no end, not being able to do anything for someone I cared so much about...wait. Well, I suppose there is _something_ else I could try, although it's not something that I find very easy to express, and it's something she's told me multiple times, always with that same smile on her face. I'd never exactly said it myself to her before, but I've thought it multiple times, but, as I said before, it wasn't an easy thing for me to express. I suppose now was as good a time as any...

"A-Arme...I-I.." Gah, why are three simple words so hard to say?! It so ridiculous, especially since she seems to have such an easy time of it...but then again, that's probably because she's such an expressive person in general, I bet it's just second nature to her. Unlike me, who is the opposite and quite lacking in that department. I couldn't help but sigh once more as I lightly placed my head on top of hers. Just...calm down and say it already. I took in a deep breath, in hopes it would help me take my own advice and calm down enough to say what I wanted. The scent of Arme's hair was that of strawberries, which must have come from the shampoo she had used in an earlier shower. Nevertheless, it was a very pleasant smell, and seemed to have a calming effect all on it's own.

However, it seemed as if it was not to be, as I had taken too long and Arme decided to speak up first. She pulled away slightly so that she could look up at me with a frail little smile. "Thank you Lass, for being here." She gave a weak laugh then, and I could see the remains of her tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes. She stood up then on her toes and placed a light kiss on my cheek before whispering, "I love you, Lass." After that, she gave me one final quick squeeze before running up the remainder of the stairs and to her room.

It was only after a few minutes and silence had completely claimed the stairway that my brain was finally able to fully process what had just taken place. I had missed my chance do to my woeful lack of being able to express myself, and she had once again done it effortlessly, and only the silence was there to hear what I had to say.

"I love you too, Arme..."

* * *

-Xire


End file.
